A Thousand Years
by Lights321
Summary: Trapped in a land of deception, Rewind struggles to survive and work with the cards he has been dealt. Fallen in a wold where the very air around you is merely an experiment of the gods, Rewind must learn to live in a world that would never ever welcome him with a beast of a mech. Overlord. SMUT/SLASH/STICKY/ A slow build fanfiction. Pairings are variable as the story goes on.
1. A New World

_Author-Chan: ALRIGHT B*TCHES! THIS IS A STORY WRITTEN BY ME AND ANGSTY! So relax, put your feet up, and put your hand down your pan-!_

_Angsty: *Puts hand over Author-Chan's mouth* The others will make appearances (maybe) But enjoy this collaboration between me and the psycho beside me._

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Rewind glanced at Chromedome desperately pounding at the glass that separated them. Even though there was no sound to be heard, Rewind could tell that Chromedome was screaming at him through the glass.

Rewind felt lubricants trail down his cheeks as he stood up and backed away from Chromedome still on the other side of the glass. He knew he was going to die. There was no question or other option. He was going to die here, alone with this monster.

Overlord, the one who was responsible for the death of countless others lay directly across him, already getting up and looking at him with sadistic unreadable optics. He seemed amused at the fact that Chromedome was getting dragged away by Brainstorm. Then his intense stare went to the minibot standing in front of him.

"You are not afraid of standing here in my presence, minibot?"

Rewind straightened up and looked directly into the gaze of the mech that murdered countless others.

"I'm not afraid of dying with you, Overlord."

Overlord chuckled and picked up that damnable sword that started everything. The escape pod shifted and Rewind realized that they were going to be shot into space. Where they were going to undoubtedly going to blow up the vessel that both he and Overlord were currently occupying.

Rewind sat down on the floor and relaxed himself. Death was inevitable. This was it. A small smile crept over his hidden faceplates. It was ironic really. His own death had fulfilled his greatest wish. Chromedome dying before he did was Rewind was the minibot's greatest fear. He loved his friend way too much to allow the other bot to die before he did.

Living without Chromedome seemed like something out of a nightmare. But dying with Overlord didn't seem much better. Meanwhile, the Decepticon was looking around him with boredom on his faceplates. Catching the minibot's gaze on him, Overlord asked Rewind as casually as if he was discussing weather.

"I assume that there are no exits from this pod?"

Rewind answered just as calmly. "No. There are no exits. We are both going to die here."

Overlord smiled back. "So callous and calm about rejoining the Allspark. I would have loved to spent some time on studying you."

Rewind did not answer back, He simply stared out to the stars. He had so much to do with his life. All that time spent with a faithful friend like Chromedome, and never being able to find Dominus Ambus. But it was all over now.

Rewind looked back at the ship on more time, then fixed his visor on a brightly shining star. Yes, he could die looking at a thing of beauty…

Rewind, heard the monitor give the warning.

Ship self destructing in T-minus 10 seconds…

Rewind looked at Overlord, the Decepticon simply giving him a smirk and turning his head to the same window that Rewind was looking out.

T-minus 7 seconds…

Rewind gazed at the same star, his spark finally at peace. Oh, when he arrived at the Well of Allsparks he could see so many of his dead friends...and maybe Dominus was there too! But it didn't seem likely…

T-minus 5 seconds…

Rewind smiled behind his mask, the lubricants down his cheeks already long dry. He was now truly, honestly, completely ready…

But then something happened.

A loud cackling sound appeared, and a swirling purple and light blue portal appeared, right between Overlord and Rewind. Both bots turned around with surprise and and shock in their optics. There was an unbelievable suction, and Rewind flew straight toward the portal, realizing that Overlord was doing the same, the latter being sucked in with anger in his optics.

Rewind tried to dig his heels into the ground, but the suction was simply too powerful, he got sucked into the portal and was spiraling down a tunnel that glowed with purple and light blue hues. Rewind felt himself completely transfixed by the pattern, and his systems started to shut down.

The last thing that Rewind heard was Overlord bellowing in rage, and the monitor saying the final words in a hypnotic bland voice.

Self-Destruction proceeding now. Systems imploding.

There was the sound was a gigantic explosion and then Rewind heard nothing at all.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

When Overlord awoke, he growled on instinct. All those years of being trapped in the Autobot cells had trained him to appear as threatening as possible. There was the lesser chance of being kicked awake if you has the look of murder on your faceplates even as you recharged.

Overlord pushed himself straight and did a double start.

Alright, so maybe he wasn't on the Autobot ship anymore…

The place he found himself was actually...quite nice. He was in the middle of an endless green field, the grass long and untamed, that swayed in the breeze. The sky was blue, with fluffy clouds floating, the temperature was perfect. It wasn't too hot or cold. Overlord felt himself wanting to lay back and fall into an endless recharge.

Unfortunately, the events of what had happened before he had ended up in this paradise caught up to him. Overlord glanced around him with anticipation. This certainly looked like the Well of Allsparks, but where were the other souls?

His gaze fell on a minibot curled up in recharge not too far from where he slept. So, here was one bot that was sure to be dead with him. But that did not explain the fact that this place was completely desolate of other life-forms.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Rewind shifted in recharge, his body shivering. He was standing in the middle of an empty black space. There were no stars out here, just him and the shifting shapes. Those shapes...

Rewind bit back a scream as he saw them, the shapes, blacker than the night, moving around, and regarding him carefully. Then came the hissing voices.

_"My Lord, this one appears different than the others."_

Rewind whimpered, the hissing voice appearing to be originated from directly to his audio receptors. Another deep voice chuckled.

This voice, unlike the other, was not scratchy or hiss like. Instead, it was deep, cultured, and held the promise of death. Rewind was instantly reminded of Overlord.

"_Indeed Biter. What should we do about this one? I don't feel like making him scream. Well, not in that way of course."_

Rewind shivered, both in disgust and fear. The obvious implications of the statement was disgusting and Rewind felt like grabbing Chromedome's servo. He would do anything to have his friend's reassuring presence by his side right now…

'Biter's' voice appeared once more. _"And the other, my Lord?"_

_"Kill him."_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Rewind snapped out of recharge with a sobbing gasp as he looked around him wildly.

Oh.

This was most certainly not the Lost Light.

Instead, he had found himself in a place usually found in those earth movies Swerve liked him to copy-and-archive. He found himself looking around with amazement, the nightmare temporarily forgotten. Was this the Well of Allsparks?

A voice behind him cleared his vocalizer. Rewind turned around slowly. He made his voice as somber as possible.

"Well, it should stand to reason that are both dead after all."

Overlord gave a toxic smirk back. "Disappointed?"

Rewind scoffed. "Of course. I sort of hoped that you would be rusting at the bottom of the Pit right now, but I guess all wishes cannot be fulfilled, can they?"

Rewind turned his helm around. "Now, where is everyone?"

Overlord gave another smile. "I have my suspicions about whether or not we are in the genuine Allspark, minibot. Take a close look around you."

Rewind turned his head around one more time noticing for the first time that there was a gigantic scientific base a little distance away. It glinted red in the sun and was constructed beautifully. But… bases like that were only constructed on foreign planets, for scientists to further study a habitat before allowing Cybertronian lifeforms to settle on a planet…

Overlord continued speaking. "That is not all. Look behind you Rewind."

Rewind turned his head around slowly and nearly choked on a mid-vent at what he saw.

Ships.

All of them, ships, some more ancient than the others, but all of them crashed into the beautiful endless field. The field was completely covered in about a dozen crashed finally felt reality hit him. He wasn't dead. In fact, he was far from dead but in worse danger than he had ever been.

"Last chances…" Rewind mumbled in a state of shock. Overlord turned to face him.

"Pardon?"

Rewind turned to him feeling sick. "Maybe it would be easier if i just show you."

Rewind activated his camera, sending a holo-video onto the ground. Overlord watched avidly.

The video showed a minicon walking down the Lost Light's hallway, when suddenly, there was a loud crash and a voice shrieking out "EUREKA!"

Rewind's hand reached out and opened the door, to find Brainstorm doing a dance on the table, while pointing to a monitor and shrieking so high he almost sounded like a femme. He turned around to face the camera and cried out joyfully.

"REWIND! I DID IT!"

Brainstorm ran toward the camera and picked up Rewind and swirled the minicon around while babbling on and on. Rewind stuttered out incoherent words.

Brainstorm finally set rEwind down and held a finger. "Now Rewind, I'm going to explain something to get out the excitement in my systems, and you're going to listen while simultaneously shutting the hell up, understand?"

The camera swung up and down from Rewind nodding.

Brainstorm pointed to the monitor. "I JUST DISCOVERED WE ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE LAST CHANCE PORTALS! I DISCOVERED THE THEORY OF SEEING WHETHER OR NOT A SHIP HAS BEEN DESTROYED OR SUCKED INTO A PORTAL!"

Brainstorm continued talking. "These portals appear when a mech's spark accept their death. Now Rewind, our sparks work a bit funny. When a mech has accepted wholeheartedly to die, their sparks send out a sort of pulse signal, signalling that they are ready to go back to Primus, that they are ready to kick the bucket, yadda, yadda, yadda."

Brainstorm's optics got a mad glint. "But here's the amazing part! Every so often, every eon or so, these rips in time and space called 'Last Chance' appear! They only appear to mechs who have accepted their deaths! And I suspect that is why recently, some ships that are caught in asteroid fields are now disappearing!"

The camera tilted a bit, showing that Rewind was cocking his head in confusion.

brainstorm continued. "Nobody knows what lies in these "Last Chance' portals, but I have heard some myths and legends about it! They say it was a dimension created by both Primus and Unicron themselves! They wanted to test to see if their powers could ever be compatible. but the place they created was curious indeed…"

Brainstorm put a finger to his chin in thought. "A land where both god's personalities are affected! A coin with 2 different faces! Where day and night are ever changing! Whatever that means…"

Rewind was still quite and the camera was inching away from the rambling scientist. Rewind was slowly backing away from the seemingly crazy Brainstorm.

Brainstorm turned around to rewind and his optics held a glint that meant the scientist was smiling.

"Say, Rewind, what would you do if you were sucked into a 'Last Chance'?"

The footage ended there and both bots were silent. Overlord looked at Rewind evenly.

"So...we are currently standing in the middle of a rip in time and space?"

Rewind looked at the ships again.

"Let's check out those ships. If they are the ships that have gone missing due to Brainstorm's theory of 'Last Chance' then we are definitely in the alternative dimension."

Overlord and Rewind proceeded down to the ships, walking in silence the entire way. Rewind had to jog because Overlord's strides were so much stronger than his.

When they finally arrived in front of the ships, Rewind checked the ship's names and felt his spark sink.

The Discovery.

The New Hope

A few supply ships scattered here and there. All of them ships that had mysteriously disappeared with 'Last Chance' residue. All the ships that had been previously checked down as unfortunate casualties in a meteor storm or simply lost to the world.

Rewind glanced around him. There were even a few Decepticon vessels scattered here and there.

Overlord seemed particularly wary of these decepticon vessels. He looked at each of them carefully, visibly relaxing when the ship did not seem to have the name he was searching for.

Rewind looked at Overlord for a moment, wondering why the Decepticon was so concerned about the names of the vessels. Rewind turned his gaze away. It wasn't of his concern to know why Overlord was acting so strange. he didn't care.

Rewind returned his attention to the ships. There was something strange about these ships that Rewind was missing. Something obvious…

Rewind looked carefully at the ships again. They were stripped of metal in the strangest places. Strange quantities too. Then he smacked his helm.

Of course!

The base behind them was made of Red Rust metal! That was the metal that was stripped away from the ships! but it was still strange. Of all the materials they could have used, why the Red Rust?

The metal was named after the disease, they used to bury the bots infected with the metal, since it appeared to be the only material immune to the disease.

Overlord had walked over to Rewind.

"I assume we are indeed in the 'Last Chance'?"

Rewind nodded miserably. He turned his gaze to Overlord.

"There's another thing. Every one of these ships are completely stripped of Red Rust metal. it's strange. Of all the materials…"

Overlord gave a feral grin. "You're correct. It isn't the most ideal of materials. But remember what your little scientific friend said. This place is a coin. Two completely different sides. Why shouldn't it stand to reason that perhaps Red Rust metal is a sort of protection of whatever might creep here?"

Rewind felt himself shiver at the chuckle Overlord let out, the quiet laugh seemingly echoing across the endless fields.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Rewind and Overlord sat in the shade of The Discovery, each thinking their own thoughts and contemplating their own fates.

Overlord was the first to break the silence.

"I don't think I'll kill you."

Rewind looked at the larger Decepticon sitting beside him.

"Thanks?"

Overlord looked at him, his face completely neutral.

"You're the first bot I've met to have faced death so calmly. I also fear I may go mad with loneliness in this place. You're also an archivist. You're the best chance I have of figuring out what may have happened here."

Rewind tossed his head back, meeting the metal behind him with a clank.

"Thanks Overlord." Rewind mumbled dryly. He couldn't believe he was speaking with the most powerful Decepticon since Megatron so casually. This was almost like trying to start an intelligent conversation with Whirl. Pointless and riddled with endless stupidity.

"You're very welcome." Overlord replied with an almost innocent sincerity in his voice.

"What is your name anyway?" Rewind turned his head to face Overlord at the unexpected question.

Rewind paused before answering. "It's Rewind."

Overlord turned his head around and looked at Rewind with amusement in his optics. "Rewind?"

Rewind felt himself visibly bristle when he heard Overlord chuckle again. "What? Is there something funny about my name?"

Overlord stopped chuckling and looked over at Rewind. "You meant so much to that fool Chromedome. I wonder how he would feel now, knowing that you are stick here with me?"

Rewind stopped all emotions from bubbling to the surface immediately. He knew what game Overlord was playing. He and Whirl were much too similar.

Rewind replied, his voice even colder than ice. " Whatever he might feel, it would be more emotion then you would ever express in your entire life, you sadistic monster."

Overlord paused then, looking at Rewind with fire glinting in his optics even though he wore a smile on his faceplates.

"Careful Rewind. I said that I might not kill you, remember?"

Rewind leant back into the ship. "You won't kill me. Because you need me."

Overlord replied, his voice soft. "And when the day comes that I no longer need you?"

Rewind replied just as softly.

"That is the day that I'll be ready to die."

Overlord chuckled yet again. "Oh, you're just so interesting, Rewind..."

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_Author-Chan: Why do I have the feeling this is going to be darker than all our other fics? O_O_

_Angsty: This is a story written by both you and me darling. It's going to be bloody and dark. Review and tell us what you think so far…_

_Author-Chan: B-but I want the instant lemons… the smut..._


	2. Survival of the Fittest

_Author-Chan: ANNNNNNGGGGSSSSTTTTTTYYYYYYYY! Can we PLEEEEEEEAAAAASSSSSEEEEEE speed up the lemon process?! I want my lemons!_

_Angsty: Hush child. This plot bunny will play out by itself. Isn't that right, cutie?_

_It-That-Must-Not-Be-Named: *__**Grunt**__*_

_Author-Chan: That... is the most terrifying bunny I have ever seen. O_O"_

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Overlord gazed at the little archivist, amused at the inner battle that was playing out in the little bot's mind. He knew the depressing symptoms that would come from being denied death when you were so close to it. Yes, he knew the symptoms very well.

He was going to have fun toying with Rewind's mind. Until the day Rewind finally went insane, he could kill the minibot if there were no other living creatures to terminate. And if there were others, he would kill this minicon anyway. No bot had ever survived Overlord's presence long, and it would remain the same, until Overlord keeled over and dies himself.

Unfortunately, there appeared to be no others, and the very last thing on Overlord's mind was to go insane. As much he relished killing and destroying, he was still a mech, and a mech needed verbal contact. He would keep the minicon by his side, until Rewind either went crazy or discovered a place out of here.

Getting out of this place was the key objective and Overlord had a hunch that the answers they needed was at the rust coloured base.

He finally broke the silence, making the little minibot startle a bit.

"As pleasant as it is discussing death and gore with you, I believe we should get ourselves over to the base now. Sitting idly does not suit me."

Rewind looked at Overlord and nodded.

They both got up and started making their way to the lonely base in the distance.

Walking over to their destination was not half as difficult as the weight in Rewind's spark. It was crashing down on him, the reality of his situation. He was stuck in a land that the outside world had little to none information about. Rewind made himself a silent vow.

He was getting out of this place. Be it by another portal or him crushing his own spark, he would get out of here.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Overlord's strides were seriously starting to get annoying. Rewind was tempted to speak up and tell the Decepticon t_o slow the frag down_ before something caught his optic.

Surrounding the base were something that Rewind knew the word to, but he couldn't put his hand on it. Straying from his original path, he approached one and knelt down to take a closer look. It was large, and it probably would have been the length of his chassis. The stem was purple and the petals were pink and black.

It was a… _flower_. It was pretty and looked strong. Rewind stretched out a servo and touched the petal.

The flower quivered and suddenly popped out of the ground. Rewind gasped and retreated behind Overlord's legs. Not the most ideal of protection, but the mech had said he wouldn't kill Rewind until he had fulfilled his purpose after all.

The object that had popped out of the ground reminded Rewind of a mushroom, the bottom stubby, while the top wide and delicate. It had no eyes or mouth to speak of, but it appeared to be carefully studying both Rewind and Overlord.

It bounced forward and cocked its 'head' at a 90 degree angle as it observed the two mechs ahead of it. This was so strange. There were no more walking creatures here anymore! And there were most certainly no walking tiny creatures like the one that was hiding behind the big ones feet.

The odd little plant shook itself and buried itself back into the dirt where it had been previously napping. Rewind and overlord looked at each other blandly, then continued walking to the base as if nothing had happened. The unspoken message was in the air.

_Nothing ever just happened._

When Rewind and Overlord had finally arrived at the base, the gigantic metal doors staring them down. It was certainly big enough, this place was designed to be more of a base then an actual home.

Overlord glanced at the panel at pressed the entrance button that lay directly underneath it. tHe doors gave a slight rumble, and the ground beneath both bots trembled. The doors opened and blackness lay beyond.

Rewind wrapped his arms around himself in fear and forced himself forward. This was not the dream he had. There were no such things as monsters.

Overlord was already striding forward without a care in the world. Rewind obediently followed allowing the darkness of the deserted base swallow them up.

Overlord walked on ahead, smirking as he felt the minibot's EMP field emit fear and anticipation. So the little minibot was afraid of the darkness hmm?

Overlord spoke out quietly. "Are you afraid of the dark_ little bot_?"

Rewind jumped a little beside him and mumbled out angrily. "Shut up, Overlord."

Overlord eventually made out a shape in front of him that looked like a light panel. He grabbed ahold of it and pulled it down. The gigantic lights above whirled to life, illuminating everything.

Rewind adjusted his visor, glancing around in confusion as he made out everything. There were multiple doors, but the room that he and overlord were in right now seemed like a lobby. There was a desk that had monitors on the front, and there were also multiple chairs.

Rewind looked up and gasped at what he saw. A beautiful chandelier like object lay above their heads. It was made of various crystals, and bounded together with thinly stretched wires. someone even went to the trouble of adding some little clear crystal droplets, adding to the natural effect.

Overlord merely spent it an dismissive glance and looked away. He could understand that with being stuck in an inescapable dimension the bots in there would have a lot of time to spare.

Rewind finally looked away from the beautiful decoration and looked to a doorway marked with two very interesting words.

'_Communication Room'_

Rewind walked toward the room, with Overlord following him. Upon arriving, he felt indignant and angry.

Why you ask? Because this dimension seemed intent on reminding him that he was much shorter than the average bot.

Every computer and monitor in the room was designed for a mech bigger than he was. There wasn't even one meant for a minibot. overlord, the unbelievable bastard, merely sat on one of the chairs and gave Rewind a condescending smile.

Rewind growled as he pulled himself onto a chair and stared at the monitor ahead of him.

This was funny.

It didn't have any passwords or blocks. He was already inside the computer. With complete access to anything he would have wanted. Overlord crossed the room to look at what Rewind was accessing.

"Interesting." Was all the Decepticon said. Rewind scowled and started to click away at the monitor. Yes...journal entries those were the best.

Rewind opened the file and watched the journal entries with Overlord right behind him.

_Journal Entry 1:_

_My name is Bose. I know, stupid name, but it was the card I was dealt, so deal with it. Like I'm dealing with the fact that me and my team have just crash landed on this weird place. I'm just a simple assistant to the head scientist here, Windstorm. _

_This place is so pretty, it's like we have just landed in the Well of AllSpark's. but we haven't. There are so many crashed ships here, and there's this tiny base made of Red rust metal. It's funny, but whatever. Maybe whoever lived here before had a weird obsession with the material, like Windstorm and his laser scalpels. I have to go now. some of the crewmates report a mushroom like flower. Must investigate._

_Journal Entry 2:_

_This place...what's WRONG with this place? Two crewmates have gone missing and we found their remains a few feet from the ship. We had placed them outside in case anything happened in the middle of the night. They are completely torn to pieces, we only found bits and scraps of them. Other body parts are of an unknown location, and the only mechs that have survived here are the ones that spent the night inside the base. Red Rust metal...Is this the material needed to ward off whatever evil that come plague this paradise at night? I must go now. I have to help WindStorm calm down the panicked crewmates._

_Journal Entry 7:_

_We are now expanding the base. Of course, all the materials we are using are simply constructing coated in the Red Rust metal. Surprisingly, it is an worthy substitute. Windstorm and I have made it clear that no bots are to go out after dark. Whatever is out there cannot be good. _

_However, there is the good news. This place is the perfect paradise. There are massive energon pools beneath us. The strange flowers out there seem to play a part in filtering the energon and making sure that it is good to drink. So good in fact, we all got ridiculously over-charged the first night. We are now building an energon pumper to make sure that we do not have to dig like animals to get our fuel. Might as well help them with this right now._

_Journal Entry 12:_

_The pumper project is complete. Everyone is seemly settled into their roles. There are no more talks about home, though it seems to be a taboo subject. We are now focusing on expanding the base, even though I cannot stop certain thoughts from crossing my mind. _

_This place is so beautiful, even though it's so dangerous at night. There is no danger of Decepticons here and the energon is rich. This place, is the most ideal place for a bot to get settled. I sometimes contemplate whether or not I should pursue romantic interests. Many tell me me I am easy on the optics, but really? Should I really get involved with someone intimately? I don't know…_

It was at this point Overlord walked off. Rewind turned around with confusion.

"Where are you going Overlord?"

The said Decepticon turned around and answered with boredom in his tone.

"The sun is starting to set. From the journal entries I gathered, the outside is not safe at night, and I'm going to shut all the doors or possibly windows. I have no interests reading about a lovesick Autobot."

With that, Overlord turned around to leave.

Rewind sighed and turned back to the monitor. He knew he shouldn't be reading about an fellow Autobot's personal life, but it was so fragging tempting!

Turning around to leave, Rewind turned back to the monitor and clicked on the next entry.

Slag it. In a land where he was possibly doomed to live a boring life with a psychotic Decepticon torturer he needed all the entertainment he could get.

_Journal Entry 13:_

_An most interesting discovery. It would appear that the flowers outside serve as some sort of last minute warning toward the dark. tHey immediately sink into the ground and appear to never be there at all. The building project is going nicely, but I must confess my mind was on other things today. This is where it's going to get weird data pad, but I have to make a confession between you and me. I confided my thoughts from the previous day to WindStorm. He simply gave me a solemn look and told me these very words.  
'When everything is through and done, that is the ideal time to raise a sparkling.'_

_What does he mean? Has WindStorm also considered raising a sparkling here in these beautiful forgotten lands?_

Rewind turned away from the monitor with a sigh as he stretched his sore joints a bit.

He had _definitely_ read enough for today. Besides, the sun appeared to be setting anyway. It was a good idea to adjust his sleep schedule to recharge during the night.

Rewind walked out of the Computer Room to another doorway labeled Dormitories.

He looked at each berth carefully, they each appeared to be the same. Pushing himself onto a comfortable looking berth, Rewind lay back against the comfortable foam padding.

He felt his aching joints relax as his body readjusted comfortably. Rewind knew he should break down crying at this point, but frankly he was too exhausted to care. Grief could come later when he had the energy…

Rewind shut off his visor and his systems slowly shut off one by one. The only sound in the room was his own venting and the sound of a slowly shutting down robotic systems.

If only the peace could continue from there.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_Rewind found himself in the inky blackness again._

_There were the black shapes again, except this time there seemed to be more. A lot more._

_There were multiple hisses and other curious sounds. Rewind felt a bit more calm than last time. if they didn't hurt him in his previous visit, why now? Besides, this was only a stassis glitch._

_Reaching out a hand, Rewind touched one of the black masses that floated randomly around him. it was like running your hand through gel with a smoke like quality._

_The shape stopped its restless shifting and regarded this tiny creature named Rewind that had the audacity to touch it. Looking closer at this Rewind creature, the shape shifted closer to the minibot._

_Rewind stroked another part of the creature, fascinated with the strange and addictive texture._

_The shape gave a loud purr at the gentle strokes. It had been far too long since another living creature had touched it with no ulterior motive. Especially one so small and adorable…_

_"__Having fun Rewind?__" A familiar voice hissed in his audios._

_Rewind instantly stopped all movement, the mass beneath his hand mewling in disappointment. As soon as it realized that its superiors were talking with the minibot, it skulked off. Maybe he would have time to play with the minibot when his leaders were through with Rewind._

_"__Now, now Biter, little Rewind didn't know that nasty Red Rust metal would repel us. But he's going to stay outside the next time dark falls, isn't he?__"_

_Rewind looked to the general direction where the deep voice originated from._

_"Who are you?" Rewind said softly._

_A laugh echoed through the dreamscape. It left no area untainted as the entire dream seemed to wobble from the sound._

_"I am the King." Came the triumphant reply._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Rewind rebooted his visor as he sat up ramrod straight.

The second time he had nearly the exact same nightmare...and both were hardly a day apart.

This wasn't something to get too concerned over, but if they persisted, Rewind was seriously gonna confront those fragging creatures for disrupting a peaceful recharge.

Besides, the nightmares were starting to get a bit more disturbing. Rewind couldn't tell if the creatures wanted to kill him or keep him as some sort of pet.

Rewind had a sinking feeling that if those dreams were not simply a figment of his vivid imagination, then maybe those black masses had something to do with the two bots disappearing. Or the fact that everyone was terrified of going outside.

Rewind felt his tanks give a slight gurgle. Rewind looked down in surprise. he had been so focused on his nightmares he never realized that he was starving. Rewind could barely remember the last time he refueled.

Well, maybe the cafeteria had something for him to refuel. After all, it did say in the diary entries that they found underground pools of energon.

Rewind walked the cafeteria, to his relief, finding multiple energon dispensers and a lonesome Decepticon sitting by himself, nursing a large cube of energon.

Rewind pulled a chair over to a nearby dispenser and selected a small energon container. As he suspected, there really were no minibots ever to set foot on this land. And besides, not supplying the special energon containers meant for the smaller bots would be just plain _jerk_ on the scientists part.

Rewind sat as far away from Overlord as logically possible and managed to set his full cube on the chair before he pulled himself up. This was going from ridiculous to just plain stupid. At least he had Chromedome to help him out when needed.

Chromedome…

Rewind flipped his mask down as he sipped his energon. The incredibly fine flavour was lost to him as he thought about his friend. First Dominus Ambus now…

Rewind felt incredibly guilty. As in, spark wrenching guilty. He still remembered how he felt when Dominus had disappeared without a trace. The sadness, agony, and the repeat of one continuous word.

_Why? Why? Why?_

At least Chromedome had something to remember him by.

_The screaming of the sirens, the escape pod, shifting toward its ejection out of the ship, him throwing the dataslug out before the doors closed._

Rewind shook his head to clear his processor. Now was not the time to dwell on Chromedome. He knew his friend was strong enough to continue on without him._ He knew this._ But the only thing that Rewind could do now was the thing he did best. He had to find out what happened in this place. Why it was completely deserted.

Dominus could wait until he finished researching. The number one priority was to find out _what the frag happened here_. And why he was having all these weird dreams.

"You look different with your mask retracted, minibot."

Rewind looked up where the voice originated, and instinctively snapped his mask shut. Overlord was standing over him at the end of the table.

Overlord sat down next to him.

"We're going to be here awhile yet, minibot. Might as well get used to each others presence."

Rewind looked at him for a long moment before speaking.

"You must be kidding."

Overlord chuckled and replied.

"You're right. I was just actually bored and you looked so serious here."

Rewind kept all emotions in check and did not respond in either motion or emotion. Overlord seemed disappointed and stood up.

"I'm going out to check the ships. There might be clues of where the others disappeared. Spilled energon, signs of struggle, things like that."

Rewind gave his opinion, throwing in his few cents.

"You might want to modify your sword with Red Rust metal. It seems to be the only material that we can use to defend against the things that creep out there."

Overlord looked at Rewind in silence in a long moment.

"We?"

Rewind stiffened upon hearing his mistake repeated. Overlord laughed aloud at the sight of the smaller bot. Rewind turned from the insufferable mech and stormed down the hall toward the computer room with his half-finished ration of energon.

Overlord could frag himself and that stupid personality of his altogether.


	3. The Message

_Author-Chan: *Chatting on the cellphie* So I told that d*ckhead of a manlyass cucumber that he could suck my woman ball-_

_Angsty: I'm sorry to interrupt you intelligent conversation Author-Chan, but we have another chapter to complete._

_Author-Chan: YOU have another chapter to complete. I'm just here for the beer and the b*tches._

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Rewind walked down the halls toward the computer room, toting along his large, half full container of energon.

He didn't care about Overlord, not one _single_ bit. He didn't care if Overlord was killed by some weird unidentified tentacle creature out there. Frag, the oversized jerk deserved it!

Rewind arrived at the designated door, and the entrance swooshed open automatically, thank goodness. Rewind walked in setting to cube on the floor and pulled himself onto the same chair he had stood in when he was last here. Rewind switched on the computer and waited patiently as the monitor loaded and onlined. Rewind's visor glazed over a tiny bit as he lost himself within his thoughts.

It was amazing really. When you were in love, you involved the mech of your affections within everything you did. Rewind thought about the first time he tried to open a computer on his own. Jumping up and down, he tried to reach higher to that stubborn dial _just_ above him. Chromedome had simply reached out an arm and flipped the switch with exaggerated ease.

And now Chromedome was gone, possibly forever ripped away from him. But was he alright? Did he continue to inject himself? Was Chromedome...finally moving on?

Rewind smiled behind his mask. If Chromedome forgot about him... Rewind felt the different emotions stir his spark. He knew perfectly well that with love came sacrifices. it would be best if Chromedome moved on. But... If Rewind could...turn back time...he would honestly have probably not sacrificed himself. Someway, somehow, they would have stopped Overlord without involving his own life in it. He wished for his sake and Chromedome's it would have turned out that way.

Leaning back against the seat he was resting on, Rewind let out a loud sigh. Oh, how he wished that he Chromedome, and Dominus Ambus could be stuck in this world together instead of him and Overlord. They would have worked as a proper team in this forgotten paradise. Chromedome... Dominus... the same.. yet so _different_...

Chromedome...

Dominus Ambus...

_Chromedome_...

_Dominus Ambus_...

Rewind felt his processor suddenly whirl with panic. What if his message didn't work? What if Chromedome was already shooting himself up this very instant? No, no, no, no_, no, no, no.._.

NO! He had to have faith! Rewind had to believe that there was eventually going to be a way out of this mess. If there was a bridge out of this place, then by Unicron's brow he was going to take it. If Rewind could have faith that he would make it out of here, then he knew for a fact that Chromedome wouldn't continue his despicable actions against himself. Besides, this place was totally deserted. Who was to say that they couldn't just simply find a way out of here?

_Or just taken away?_

Frozen at the dark thoughts flying across his processor, Rewind shook his helm to clear it. For a moment he thought... No, those were just dreams...

The monitor had already long loaded into the menu screen and Rewind stretched his shoulders to ready them for a typing workout. What should he look at first? The main data frame? Incident records?

In the end, Rewind found himself drifting toward the journal entries. He tried to convince himself that it was because journal entries were a first-hand source toward this place, but to be very honest, he was simply curious. Losing himself within the world of Bose, he continued reading.

_Journal Entry 15  
I have not laughed so hard since before we ended up in this place. One of our scouts (WindStrike, was it?) was apparently chased and throughly molested by one of those flowers residing outside. It all started when he had accidentally tripped over one of those flowers residing outside. It had pulled itself out of the ground and was gazing at him quite angrily (Imagine, a flower glaring at him angrily) He had felt a urge to apologize to it, and did so. The flower was still staring at him, so he complimented it as well as giving a small pat on the petals.  
Imagine his surprise when the flower opened its hidden mouth and gave a running leap at him.  
The guards that saved him quite literally dropped to the ground laughing as they saw a full grown mech running screaming through the fields with a delicate flower chasing after him with little hops and attempting to hump his leg. I believe even WindStorm cracked a smile at that ordeal._

Rewind snorted aloud at the mental image the journal entry provided. Who knew the pretty flowers outside had it in them?

_Journal entry 16_

_A most startling discovery! Perhaps...Perhaps the plants outside may be able to communicate! WindStrike had shakily told me that while he was being chased, he heard a continuous chattering noise behind him! Must investigate further maybe I-_

Rewind frowned as he stared at the computer screen. The journal entries had cut off from there. It seemed like they were blocked or just erased for some reason.

Maybe they fell through a gap in cyberspace. It wasn't an uncommon occurrence in computers.

But about that last entry... could the flowers outside really talk? It was probably- most likely a stupid theory, but testing the theory could probably eat up a whole chunk of Rewind's time. He could ignore the post all together, but he knew it would come back to plague him later.

Wait, wait... if the flowers _could_ talk outside... then maybe they could tell Rewind about the mechs that were previously here!

Rewind had a weird feeling about the mechs that were stranded here. He had a gut feeling that they either managed to escape this mini-paradise... or they didn't. He frankly didn't want to know what happened. The only cheerful alternative he could come up with prior to escaping was that they offlined themselves from boredom.

Rewind jumped out of the seat and chugged down the energon. Choking briefly on the strong taste, Rewind felt a small jolt in his systems from the sudden rush of energy. Yeah, he was _definitely_ ready to do this.

Rewind ran to the main lobby, stopping a moment to admire the chandelier. There was something about it that made him stop and gape for a little while. He just couldn't put his hand on it yet. But he felt as if he wanted to cry and laugh at the same time...

Exiting the building he vented deeply. The sky was bluer then ever, and the grass was so soft... Rewind felt like lying down on the soft ground and recharging... dream of Chromedome and him watching a movie... Tailgate stuttering around Cyclonus...

His dream was promptly shattered as he smashed into a flower. Fortunately, unlike the scout in the journal entry, he wasn't tall enough to trip over this particular flower. It was taller then him for Primus' sake. And it had a green stem with blue and green petals, black at the very tips. However, his bump made the flower shiver as it popped out of the ground and regarded him.

Rewind rubbed his arms as he nearly felt the dark "look" the plant sent his way. He wasn't sure if the flower's could send out EM field's, but he was damn sure that this particular organic was quite miffed it had been rudely pulled from its peaceful bed in the soft ground.

"Um... I- I'm really sorry that I bumped into you... You, uh, you have really pretty petals!" Rewind stuttered. He was reminded of the time he had approached a mech he liked in the Academy. Needless to say, it did not end well, just like this mission most likely...

The flower remained still and cocked its petal head as it "stared" at Rewind. Rewind felt a weak, weird push against his own EM field. Alright, this organic really did have something similar to an EM. But it was weird. Like it was distorted and mutated beyond all reason. Rewind understood how Bose had neglected to mention this in his journal. As an archivist, he was naturally more sensitive to absorbing the feeling of the air around him. It was a vital part of recording and editing footage to know how your viewers were feeling. For example, if he felt a mech tense and angry (Cyclonus), he would naturally avoid that particular being for the rest of the day and generally just try his best not to get his camera smashed in.

But there was another science involved that explained minibots were more sensitive EM fields. Apparently a mech's size was also involved. The larger your EMP generator ( a mech) was, the stronger waves he pulsed. Rewind was frankly amazed he could sense the EMP field as he was, with it being so screwed up.

Now if he concentrated, he could feel that the plant was...

Confused and slightly ticked off.

Alright, so this really _wasn't_ so different from the Academy.

"I- uh, I'm really sorry that I tripped over you, and probably messed up your beautiful petals."

The flower then started shifting a bit and the EMP field said it was embarrassed and confused.

Rewind straightened up and tried his best to boost his ego. Good Primus, he had never tried this hard to hit on anyone before. But the end results might be worth it if he could just get the plant to talk.

"You know, even to another species, you look _damn fine_. What do I have to do to hear your voice?"

Embarrassment. _Pure embarrassment_. For the both of them. Rewind knew he could do this. He _could_.

" Being as beautiful as you are, I'm sure that your voice is unbelievably musical, the very same level as a can a goddess be anything other then perfect?"

Rewind was really laying it on thick. However it was paying off, the plant was definitely feeling flattered flattered at this point. It was even moving slowly toward Rewind. Rewind looked closely to see if it had a mouth, or anything close to an vocalizer.

Unfortunately he leaned a bit too far and the plant managed to shove itself against him. Rewind squeaked as he felt the plant give off deep inhuman purrs and rubbed itself against Rewind. In fact, it even shifted to-

"What the hell are you doing minibot?"

Rewind squeaked loudly and gently pushed the plant away. He looked past the plant to the gigantic mech directly behind him. Overlord was standing behind him, his hands covered in energon, and holding a package that was soaked with spilled mech blood.

Rewind suddenly felt stiff. His body refused to move and his processor went blank. He suddenly remembered with vivid clarity what had transpired during the Lost Ark.

_Mechs screaming. The crash of broken metal and limbs. Broken bodies littering the halls that he had walked and laughed with friends._

Rewind's desperation, confusion and the irritation of being denied death had impaired his vision of who Overlord really was. Who was he kidding? He wasn't ever going to reach home being trapped here with this mech._ Never ever, never ever, never ever_...

The plant that was rubbing itself against the minibot suddenly stopped as it felt the tiny bot underneath him go rigid.

It stopped rubbing itself suggestively and instead wibbled curiously and stopped its movements as it sensed Rewind's EM field go from embarrassed to ice frigid with fear. The organic nudged itself against the small bot and gave loud reassuring purrs.

Rewind felt himself slowly relax, his body's tension spreading itself out like the bud of a flower, leaving behind a numb empty feeling. It was okay ... he was alive ... It was fine ... Chromedome ... Chromedome was still out there ... and Dominus Ambus ... the two mechs he cared about the most were still alive ... he had to live ... he _had_ to.

His systems calmed down and he gazed levelly at Overlord's face. The gigantic mech was just as carefully looking at him back. All that had transpired under 20 seconds, however neither of them were fooled nor bothered by the silence that had occurred. They were both neither fools or idiots. Rewind had a dreading feeling that if he had stayed in that panicked state, he wouldn't be alive. He was such an idiot...A monster like Overlord would be drawn to fear like a predator to a weakened kill...

Overlord remained still as he saw the sheer terror that had flashed across the minibot's visor. Overlord frankly didn't care about what had triggered the small bots fear... but...

Overlord felt himself twitch with excitement. If this bot didn't recover within the next 30 seconds, he would crush him underfoot. After all if _Rewind_ couldn't handle a little energon, then he would logically be a horrible companion in this Primus-forsaken world. Overlord may have been a little ... _concerned_ about being alone after being trapped in that slagging slow-cell, but it wasn't enough to stop him from killing this minibot should he prove unworthy.

Overlord didn't care about his reasoning. Slag the logical scrap. As long as he eventually got to kill _something_, he was happy.

Needless to say, he was disappointed when _Rewind_ recovered. Oh, what a loss, the bot underneath him would have screamed so wonderfully. Overlord knew a screamer when he saw one. Nothing more intoxicating then holding a life utterly to your commend...

Overlord saw the mech life up a tiny arm and point to the bag he was holding at his side. It only took Rewind about six tries to speak.

"What...in the name of Cybertron...is-is that..?"

Oh. The minibot was talking about the package Overlord was holding? Well, maybe the contents inside might be able to make the little bot faint.

Overlord held out the bloodied sack just in case Rewind wanted to se it closer. He reached in and smoothly pulled out...

... a mech's disembodied head._ A mutilated head. _He pulled it right up by the leftover spinal cables.

Rewind offlined his visor for a split second to hold in a shriek and the sudden urge to barf. He would go through this. There was nothing special about seeing a mech's head missing its body and torn beyond all reason. Hell, he had already seen a Sparkeater's victim. That scrap made this look like a piece of pliable metal chewed on by a sparkling.

Rewind had seen this mech's glee when he had a brief panic attack. He would not give this sicko the satisfaction of seeing him squirm. Instead, Rewind stroked the smooth texture of the plant still cuddled against him. It somewhat calmed him down a bit, knowing there was something of an anchor beside him.

" Did you kill him?" Rewind inwardly sighed at how calm he appeared on the outside.

Overlord glanced at the minibot, his mouth curling up in a mean smirk. " No, no, unfortunately I didn't get the pleasure. I simply found a mutilated body on one of the ships, along with a recording device beside his frame."

Rewind perked up at the mention of another source of information, but something didn't seem quite right with what Overlord was saying. He took another look at the bag and it clicked.

"Wait... If you simply found this mech in this state, why is the energon still fresh? I'm no Red Alert, but even I can tell the energon hasn't even clotted yet. That's a death span of around 2-3 hours."

Overlord gave another smirk at the hesitant observation. "We aren't alone here."

Rewind felt chilled to his very core. He heard a dark voice laugh in the depths of his mind and felt the shifting of shadows. "What do you mean?"

Overlord gazed in the direction of nowhere. "When walking toward the ships I saw some... strange monstrosities stir in the shadow of those wrecks. They had no basic shape, and I thought they were a simply a smudge on my optic lenses. My instincts do not fail me. I know for a fact that there is something out there besides the two of us."

Rewind really felt like his fuel tanks were trying to digest a gigantic clump of ice. There was no real confirmation of his dreams being real yet-

Overlord held out the recording device. His optics held a strange gleam, like he was trying to dissect Rewind simply with his vision. "I thought you might like to hear what message this device holds. It is certainly... interesting. Yes, very, very interesting..."

Rewind grabbed the device and flipped the switch. With every word that echoed in his audios Rewind felt like his spark was curling in on itself.

_Rewind, you naughty, naughty, mech. We waited so long to play with you and you left us in the dark lonely night? Come to us... we know what you desire... Look within the biggest metal vessel and enter my kingdom to play Rewind... Yes... I know all about Dominus Ambus..._

_Come to play._

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Author-Chan: HOOOOOO! SH*T'S GOING DOOOOOOOOWWWWN! Man, Rewind no, don't take the bait no... There going to be so much sh*t going on if you actually listen to the dude on the recording device..._

_Angsty: I apologize for the short chapter. But it seemed like a good place to cut it short. I promise the next chapter will be so screwed up Author-Chan will cry her eyeballs out._


End file.
